Stocking and seam construction therefor



1934- J. A. GOODMAN STOCKING AND SEAM CONSTRUCTION THEREFOR Filed April 14, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l m zwww bc. 1a, 1934.

J. A. GOODMAN 1,984,970 I STOCKING AND SEAM CONSTRUCTION THEREFOR 2 Sheets-:Sheet 2 Filed April 14, 1952 Patented Dec. 18, 1934 PATENT OFFICE STOCKING AND SEAM CONSTRUCTION THEREFOR Jacob A. Goodman, Application April 14, I932. Serial No. 805,341

4 Claims.

This invention relates to the construction of seams for garments and other fabric articles.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a seam adapted to meet various conditions which may be encountered in the different portions of the article which it joins.

The character and structure of garments may comprise portions of different character suited to the particular requirements for such parts. Thus, one portion may be such as to be particularly adapted to resist surface wear, another portion may be required to withstand consider able stretch and strain, comfort may be paramount in a third portion, and again, appearance may be the primary requisite. It will be appreciated that the seam which joins these portions of garments should likewise be ofa suitable character to satisfy the various conditions which are met.

In my prior copending application, Serial Number 604,577, filed April 11, 1932, I have disclosed a stocking construction in which the foot portion is seamed in a manner calculated to render the same non-irritating to the human foot, while the leg portion is provided with aseam of the type conventionally used in stockings. The construction of the present invention is related to such application to the extent that they both broadly comprehend a'garment in which the edges thereof in several portions are joined in a difl'erent manner. The present invention, however, presents a material advance over my original construction and embodies numerous novel features.-

In its application to a stocking, the invention provides a seam construction suited'to the special requirements of all of the various portions thereof, some of which it may be desirable to join by continuous seaming. It also involves a novel seam for the heel and, besides, 'an improved manner of joining the edges of a stocking in its upper portion. I

In seaming the stocking, I group the successive stitches according to the particular portions of the stocking, and produce the respective groups of stitches with stitch characteristics adapted to give the seam properties best suited for the portion of the stocking being seamed.

To "give the respective stitch groups the desired changes in characteristics, I resort to the simple expedient of varying the amount of thread in the stitches in respective groups. In sewing with two or more threads, I also vary-the relative quantity of each thread contained in stitches of therespective groups. To this extent my invention is of generic application. It finds utility in seaming.

garments and fabrics other than those used in stockings. It finds application aside from seaming wherever it is desired to produce a plurality of stitches in which stitches of diiferent groups, have diflerent quantities of thread, or, when sewing with a plurality of threads, stitches of different groups have different relative quantities of the component threads.

A particular feature of the invention involves a continuous seam construction, the character of which varies at different parts of its length. In seaming articles such as stockings, it has been conventional to set a sewing machine for the production of a seam of uniform character throughout its length, which I have found is not suited to the requirements of certain portions of a garment.- Prior to my invention no one, so far as I am aware, has attempted to modify the character of the seam at desired parts of its length to overcome this difllculty.

The essential feature of my invention resides in the proportioning of the length of the stitches forming the seam in accordance with the conditions to be met. This can be done, I have discovered, without altering the type of stitch which may beselected and without necessitating a break in the seam, by regulating the'tension to which the seaming stitches are subjected during forma-.

tion. A loose flat seam, for example, can be obtained by seaming with little or no tension on the thread. Again, if a tight. gathered seam is to be produced a high tension will be used to produce small and tightly drawn stitches. The tension can be varied as often as desired over a wide range as successive parts of the seam are formed. The seam may be interrupted at the points where the tension is changed, or may be formed throughout with continuous thread.

In the stocking art, it is conventional to scam the stocking up the back of the leg. The stocking may be knit tubular and, either cut and seamed, or a mock seam applied to the stocking to make it simulate a full fashioned stocking, or the stocking may be knit as a flat blank and seamed tubular. The invention is particularly applicable to the full fashioned art wherein it is conventional to loop the bottom of the heel and the end of the toe and thereafter seam the bottom of the foot from the toe looping to the heel looping and the back of the leg-from the heel looping up into the welt.

It has been customary to produce a relatively tight bunched seam at the back of the leg of a stocking. This seam presents the best appearance and holds the two edges of the fabric firm- 1y. together. However, this scam as conventionally used at other portions of the stocking has various disadvantages. For example, the seam lacks elasticity and when-put in portions of the stocking that aresubjected to'strain the stocking surrounding the seam 'or adjacent to the seam can not withstand this strain and failure sets in which results in runs. An instance of this is at the close of the welt, where the double fabric portions of the ,top meet and merge in the single ply leg fabric. In practice, it has been found that at this point and circumferentially adjacent to the seam the stocking is especially weakand subject to runs. It is common'practice to apply a garter clasp verynear the seam immediately above this vulnerable point. Incidentally, the garter strap at'this point is subjected to the greatest tension so that the back of the stocking is given its greatest longitudinal strain through the vulnerable point. It has been common for this portion of the stocking to fail.

At the back of the heel the stocking is subjected to wear against the shoe counter. The seam if bulky projects the seaming threads into rubbing engagement with the shoe and the seam frequently fails at this point. In the foot of the stocking, the seam runs from the-tip of the toe along the bottom of the foot to the .heel and is likely ,to cause irritation.

Bearing the above in mind, I propose according to my invention to seam a stocking utilizing a variable tension on the seaming threads at various'parts of the stocking length. In the welt beginning a short distance below the close, I use a loose seam which is elastic, preferably as elastic. as the adjoining fabric and which is flat. In this portion of the stocking appearance is of minor importance and elasticity is paramount.

I use the same type of seam in the foot because besides its elastic properties, it permits the fabric edges to be incorporated within the seam with their selvages abutting. The seam adds little bulk to the fabric and in addition is soft and yielding. At the back of the leg from the heel to the elastic seam near the welt, I make the seam relatively tight in accordance with common practice. If preferred, at the back of the heel I can make the seam of unusual tightness in such manner as to cause the seaming thread on the outer surface tobe sunk in the fabric where it is unexposed to wear. a

I produce the above described seam by controlling the tension on the respective seaming threads. Various types of sewing stitches may be utilized in making this seam, but I prefer to use the conyentional seaming stitch such as is of theinvention as appliedto a stocking, and

. make reference to the following figuresin which produced by the ordinary seaming machines.-

This stitch is made up of a needle thread and a looping thread and I'control the tension on the respective threads as desiredto produce the results described above. I

A seam having different characteristics in various parts of its lengthmay be made in secsults the machine may beprovided with a tension controlling; attachment which can readily be adjusted to vary the tension on the threads within any desired range.

like reference characters represent like parts:

Fig. 1 shows conventionally a rear view of a stocking embodying my seam;

Fig. 2 shows conventionally a side elevation with portions broken away of a stocking embodying my new seam;

Fig. 3 is a detailed plan view'of the seam structure;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are crosssectional views taken on lines 4-4, 5-5 and 66, respectively, of

Figure 3; I

In Fig. 1 I show a stocking with a leg portion 2, a welt portion 3 and a foot portion 1. In the leg portion I show the conventional type bunched seam 5. A short distance, about an inch below the welt turn 6, as indicated at point-7, I make the stitch very loose. This produces a wide seam as indicated at 8. This wide seam extendsin all instances from below the welt close 6 to some distance above the welt close. It 'may, as shown, be extended throughout the length of the welt as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Comparing Figs. 1 and 2, it will be noted that the seam portion 5, as compared with the seam portion 8, will be narrow and inconspicuous as worn. However, as indicated in Fig. 2, the seam portion 8, being of loose construction, will permit the knitted fabric to lie flat while the portion 5,

due to the bunching of the fabric edges, willbe ridged.

If desired and the back of the heel from the heel looping edge to approximately the top of the high splice 10, the seam can be made especially tight. This will be explained more fully hereinafter. the present be it understood that I make the seam of such a degree of tightness thatv the seaming threads which would normally appear on the face or wale side of the fabric are almost entirely embedded in the fabric and are not exposed 'to wear against the counter of the shoe. This is indicated by means of the reference character 11. This especially. .tight seam has added advantages. when a stocking is produced in which the high splice is made of a color contrasting with the rest of the stocking, and the seaming thread is of a color that corresponds with the leg of the stockin the preferred embodiment at However, for.

not appear.

In the foot portion, that is from the toe looping 12 to the heel looping 9, I use a soft flat seam 14 and I have found that this may be of the same loose character as was employed in the portion 8.

In Figs. 3, 4 and 5, I have shown in detail the various types of seam resorted .to. Although I show the conventional two-thread overseam stitch it, of course, will readily be understood that my. invention is not limited to that particular stitch structure. Fig. 3 shows the seam as it viewed from the inner or coarse side of the stock? ing.

The portion 8 of the seam, as indicated, has been sewed with little or no tension on the threads. From Fig. 4 it will be seen how the needle thread 16 and loopmg thread 17' lie close to the fabric and, in addition, hold the edges 18 of the fabric 15 which are incorporated in the seam flat. This portion of the seam is not only flat but it is soft and elastic and is therefore ideal for the vulnerable spot at the welt close and in the sole.

InFig. 5 I'show the seam of the usual degree of tightness, approximately the same amount of. tension being put on both the needle thread 16 and looping thread '17. This tension is great enough to draw the edges 18 together and bunch them as indicated in Fig. 5. This type of seam is more sightly than the portion 8 because the sewing threads are drawn tight enough to prevent the two fabric edges from separating when' the stocking is worn.

At'll I show the sewing stitch at its maximum degree of tightness. This construction is shown in Fig. 6, the same being produced by putting additional tension on the needle thread 16. The looping thread 1'7 is fed under about the same degree of tension as in the portion 5 of the seam. This causes the fabric edges 18 to be bunched to a greater degree, but also has the important advantage of allowing the seam to draw the adjoining fabric 15 of the two fabric portions close together and causing needle thread 16 to be wholly or in part hidden therein. The needle thread 16 is firmly embedded in the fabric and 1 have the normal amount of thread incorporated in each stitch, whereas the group of stitches 8 will, because of their loose nature, have a greater amount of thread in each stitch. The group of stitches 11 will, on the other handjhave less thread in each stitch than either the stitches 5 or 8, the quantitative difference for the most part being confined to the needle thread. The interlooping thread in each of the stitches 5 and 11 will be quantitatively about the same because they are sewed under the same tension.

I have described the loose seam portion as applicable to the welt, the portion of moderate degree of tension to the leg, and the very tight portion to the back of the heel. However, there might be variations of this to meet different demands in any particular stocking. For example, the vulnerable spot at the close of the welt might be improved by other means than the elastic seam. The susceptibility to wear at the back of the heel might be improved by other means. Thus, it is not necessary that all degrees of tension which I have described be resorted to in all portions of any particular stocking,

. nor are the specific tensions which I have described the only ones which will accomplish the results.

My seam construction may be produced in various ways. For example, it can be produced on different machines, each machine adjusted for a certain tension. On the other hand, it might be produced on one machine and as different portions of the seamare made the tension accord ingly adjusted. I have devised mechanism for readily adjusting the tension of the respective sewing threads which is made the subjectmatter of a copending application Serial Number 604,578, filed April 11. 1932.

Generally speaking, the operation of a seaming machine to produce the preferred embodiment -oi! my seam in a stocking is as follows: The machine is first adjusted to produce a loose stitch and the seam from the tip of the toe to the heel looping is made. The machine now must be stopped and the stocking shifted therein preparatory to beginning the seam again beyond the heel looping. At this time it is convenient to adjust the tightness of the respective threads and proceed to seam from the under end of the heel up through the high splice. If the seam in the high splice is to be made tighter than in the leg, adjustment is again made in the tension on the threads. Seaming then continues to within a short distance of the welt close at which time the machine is then proper for the foot portion of the next stocking to be seamed.

Although --I have described the seam as applied to the conventional full fashioned stocking, it is also applicable to other types of full fashioned stockings or other stockings that are not full fashioned. My invention is also applicable to seams other than stocking seams, it being useful inany seam where it is desired to change the thread tension and correspondingly the stitch tightness, or, when sewing with a plurality of threads, it is desired to change the relative tension of the two threads. It will therefore be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment thereof shown and described, but that .the scope thereof is to be determined only as required by the accompanying claims.

I claim: y

1. A stocking having a continuous rear seam joining the stocking edges and extending through the welt and leg portions, the seamin the leg being tight and embracing the fabric edges and in the welt being loose and elastic, and the seaming stitches in the welt including more thread than the stitches in the leg portion.

2. A stocking including welt,- leg and heel portions having rear edges, and a continuous seam extending up the back of the stocking and joining.

the edges of the various stocking portions, the

seam comprising a'group of stitches in the welt portion which are loose and elastic, followed by a group of tight stitches in the'leg portion enclosing the fabric edges and a further group of stitches in the heel portion which are tighter than the stitches in the leg portion.

3. A stocking having a continuous rear-seamwelt.

4. A stocking having acontinuous rear sewed seam embracing and joining the stocking edges and extending through the leg and heel portions, the seaming stitches in the heel being tighter than in the leg portion and more tightly compressing the embraced fabric edges than in the leg portion, said heel seaming stitches being so tightly drawn that the portions thereof at the outer shoe-engaging side of the heel are embedded in the heel fabric and present a minimum exposed surface to abrasion by the shoe.

,rscon a. GOODMAN. 

